Lansner: Mass layoffs at 5-year low in U.S.

Our periodic check of business trends today looks at firings and hirings.

PLUS: At least bosses aren't laying off like they used to.

According to the government's tally of "mass layoffs" – jobs cuts of 50 or more, permanent and temporary, culled from unemployment claims – employers had 17,080 events that affected 1.67 million workers last year.

While that may seem like a lot of employment pain, that's the slowest pace since 2007. Big job cuts are a long way down – 40 percent – from the 2009 mid-recession peak. And last year's pace was even below average, looking at data since 1996.

The improvement is somewhat broad-based. Government analysts found declines in layoffs in 11 of the 19 major job sectors tracked, led by slowed cuts in the administrative and waste services; manufacturing; and information industries.

It's a good bet that the layoff drop shows employers having more confidence about economic conditions. If nothing else, it's a psychological boost – less buzz about folks losing jobs.

Now if bosses could remember how to hire.

MINUS: What about a raise?

The government's accounting of unionized workers for 2012 shows union members nationwide earned on average $887 a week in the private sector – 21 percent more than non-union workers. However, those not in unions saw salaries rise 2.1 percent in 2012 – nothing to shout about but better than the 1 percent raise for union members.

Union ranks dipped nationwide. Just 11.3 percent of American workers were in a union last year, down from 11.8 percent the year before or 20.1 percent in 1983.

California bucked the trend: 17.2 percent of all workers statewide were union members in 2012 – up a tiny bit from 17.1 percent in 2011.

EQUALS: You can bet the debate about the quality of job counts will pick up a bit as government employment counters reveal annual revisions to key jobs data in coming weeks.

Remember, the initial monthly reports are based on surveys of bosses, much like opinion polling. One indicator of what the revisions might show is a curious "Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages" report – employment trends pulled from detailed unemployment insurance files.

As of June – the latest data available – Orange County employment was growing at a 2.4 percent annual rate (vs. 1.8 percent nationally).

Compare those job trends to what the traditional monthly data from June showed: Orange County added jobs at a 2.3 percent pace (hinting at a small revision, perhaps) vs. 1.3 percent nationally (bigger surprise?).

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